Miss Carmella

working sketch
17 x 12 inches

   I've been working on and off all day prepping this sketch to paint. I previously did a small painting, mostly to work out the color scheme, and it was approved by Rhonda, the owner. I also was told the story of how Carmella received her lumpy head. She was caught in a situation with a three-year-old girl and an upset horse. It ultimately came down to Carmella or the child, and Carmella decided to save the girl, and take the flailing hooves herself. Such is the way of all good dogs!! She ended up with five stitches and a very large bump on top of her head.

Thank You to My Fellow Artists for Your Comments

I was here yesterday

After some touching up this morning

   I so much appreciate everyone's critiques [though I don't think they were "brutal" enough] I have made some small changes that I think have improved her look. As for the background for the large portrait, I think I will do something soft and smoky, in blues and greys. Thank you all again for your help; it's always difficult to see what is wrong when you are working on something.

I'm Back ... I Hope!

   I have had a BAD month, ending up in emergency twice within a week. I had a very miserable flu that would not leave me alone. And then yesterday. I thought I would do something constructive, and clean the eaves troughs. I was almost done, when the ladder decided to lose its grip, and I rode it in slow motion to the ground. Basically, I was all right, just shaken up, but I did need twenty stitches in my right shin. Ah, well ... never a dull moment.

 Needless to say, I had NOT felt like painting. I just started today, after not doing any art for a month. I am starting a large commission for some friends, of a yellow lab. But I am doing the smart thing, and starting with at least one color study before I tackle the full size. Below are photos of Carmella, and the small study I did today. I would very much appreciate some brutally honest criticism.

 

Mr. Buddlington's Saga

Original photo, taken in shade with flash [1st mistake]

Buddy II, at which point I realized I could not create deeper shadows to give illusion of depth

Start again; same colors, with lavender wash on dog to indicate shadows

I am here; still a ways to go, but to me, it already has more depth 

Progress Report ... or ... the Life and Times of a Perfectionist

Original photo

I was here a few days ago

Creeping along, darkening leaves an right side of foreground building.

Swept Away . and Now I'm feeling a Bit Lost

Sketch, with scribblings

Masking on; 1st glazes - quin. gold, warm & cool pinks, cobalt blue

Softened pinks with 3 thin glazes warm grey
Foreground darks floated in, to better estimate values throughout

Some detail started

Trying different techniques for street
Photo in background

Large color masses placed
Playing with building texture [love doing that]

More building detail
Started leaves

I am here
Lightened road surfaces, and worked on leaves till I was cross-eyed

  I was, as I said, swept away by a photo my aunt took, when she and my mother were in Greece. It's an amazing, vibrant picture of a side street in the Turkish quarter of Athens. I LOVE painting old buildings, so, the same day I found the photo, I got a sketch going. I couldn't wait; the photo itself looked like a painting. Well, I've been at it for three days, and my initial fervor has dimmed a bit. The detail of the leaves was getting to me. So I'll put it aside for a few days, and look at it critically then. Any comments or ideas???

Making the Unreal "Real" ... or ....It's Only a Carousel Horse

Background washes, horse masked, and with light grey glaze

Several glazes on saddle

The mane was FUN

Starting tack, and more glazing on horse

Masking removed

A bit of striping for background

   I LOVE carousels. My biggest thrill, when I was a child, was to sit on some inert object that resembled a horse. I was a regular at Loblaw's, [in Toronto] sitting on the mechanical animal they had at the front of the store. While my mother went shopping, I would ride the wind! My parents had friends in Oakville; their home had a huge yard with statuary - one being an almost life-sized rearing horse. Yup ... that's where I'd be.

   So the romance remains with me. I found several Internet sites where there are thousands of photos of renovated carousels. I had to try painting some of them. Above is my first attempt. For me, it had to look "real" and yet "unreal". To achieve that goal, I used very bright, almost unnaturally so, colors. Let me know what you think.